Hotel de la Marine : tenders for projects closed

Hôtel de la Marine
Place de la Concorde
Photo : Didier Rykner

6/5/11 – Heritage – Paris, Hotel de la Marine – A further blow has been dealt to the tandem of Alexandre Allard and Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, but it promises to be excellent news for heritage supporters who wish to see the Hotel de la Marine remain in the public domain : the tenders for projects, initially launched simply to give a semblance of legality to the plans for relinquishing the Gabriel monument, have been definitely abandoned. Applicants were thus informed that “based on the wishes expressed by the President of the Commission reflecting on the future of the Hotel de la Marine, the government has decided to end the process of tenders for the project”. This logical decision resulted therefore from a request by Valery Giscard d’Estaing who presides over this body (see news item, in French, of 4/2/11).

The commission is to submit its conclusions in June. Nothing very concrete has leaked out concerning the commission’s work, although it is well known that several solutions are being considered, including offices for a ministry, or even separating the building into two sections, with the reception rooms remaining available for use by the state and open to the public, while the back would be rented out. Although those parts of the building which hold fewer decorative elements could be used for offices (this is in fact the building’s current status), it is essential that the guidelines set down in the heritage study carried out by the Chief Architect for Historical Monuments, Etienne Poncelet, be respected. We should remember that the entire building is listed and that even the less ornate parts retain a significant historical importance for our heritage.